Clara Murray faces Toowoomba Magistrates Court after refusing to provide specimen of breath, claiming officers did not have ‘royal assent’

The 47-year-old claimed police had no ‘royal assent’ to require her to provide a specimen of breath when she was stopped for a random breath test, despite having no alcohol in her system.

A 47-year-old mother who refused to provide a sample of breath at a police random breath testing site claiming the officers didn’t have “royal assent” has been found guilty of three offences.

Clara Murray was pulled over by police at an RBT site on the New England Highway at Highfields about 11am on September, 13, Toowoomba Magistrates Court was told.

When a senior constable told her she was required to provide a specimen of breath, she initially ignored police and then told them they didn’t have the authority, claiming that because she didn’t drink alcohol she didn’t have to provide a sample of breath.

Clara Murray arrives at Toowoomba Courthouse on December 21, 2022.

On the senior constable’s bodycam camera footage played to the court, Murray was heard refusing several requests and ignoring a number of warnings by police and she was eventually removed from the vehicle by two police officers.

The court was told she then struggled with police while being taken to the police vehicle where she was handcuffed and taken to Toowoomba Police Station.

En route, with her 12-year-old son beside her in the police car, she repeatedly complained that she was “unlawfully arrested” and berated the officers.

At the police station she again refused to provide her name and address, saying she had two names, “a living name and a copyrighted name”.

She eventually provided a specimen of breath at the police station and returned a zero reading for alcohol.

At the beginning of her hearing in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Monday, Murray had refused to enter pleas to charges of failing to provide a specimen of breath at the roadside, obstructing police and contravening a police requirement and so magistrate Clare Kelly entered pleas of not guilty on her behalf.

In his closing submissions to the court on Wednesday, police prosecutor Chris Willson said but for Murray’s behaviour at the roadside, the matter would never have been before the court.

“It’s a fair statement to make that had the defendant simply provided a roadside specimen of breath from the outset, she would have returned the eventual zero reading and been sent on her way,” he said.

“As it was she argued non-stop with officers over perceived differences in authorities, threatened civil action on the officers personally, she resisted officers’ attempts to detain her which then led to her arrest.”

Senior Constable Willson said the officers exercised a number of basic powers, they displayed a high degree of professionalism and extreme patience in dealing with what he described as “quite a difficult individual”.

Ms Kelly noted Murray had no criminal history and nothing of a like nature in her traffic history and fined her $600 with no conviction recorded.